Many automobiles on the road today come with a receiver for towing trailers or other vehicles. The vehicle receiver consists of a square tube that mounts to the frame of the vehicle. The square tube has an opening that faces the rear of the vehicle. The opening is sized and shaped to receive an insertable portion of a removable ball mount. The removable ball mount, once coupled to the vehicle, can be used to tow a trailer or another vehicle.
In addition to items typically towed by personal vehicles such as a trailer or other vehicle, personal vehicles are increasingly being used to transport items such as bicycles, motorcycles, skis, and other cargo using the vehicles receiver. Specialty hitch mounted accessories have been developed to accommodate the transportation of these items. Common hitch mounted accessories include bicycle racks, ski racks, and platform cargo holders. With the relatively recent development of hitch mounted storage and transport accessories, more and more items are being transported using a vehicle receiver.
Each of the above identified common hitch mounted accessory includes an insertable portion that is received within opening in the square tube of the vehicle receiver. Thus, in order to couple the hitch mounted accessory to the vehicle receiver, the opening in the square tube of the vehicle receiver should be accessible.
One drawback to transporting an item on a hitch mounted accessory is the fact that because the hitch mounted accessory is coupled to the vehicle on the outside of the vehicle, the item is fairly unsecure. Any passerby can relatively easily remove the item from the hitch mounted accessory.